Beekeeping, Gardening and Quilting in Eastern Wake County, North Carolina

Saturday, April 17, 2010

April Swarm

This is the first swarm for this year - yesterday around lunch. I was in the garden and noticed all this activity - lots and lots of bees flying. Well, they were swarming. They didn't go far - just far up! They settled in one of the pines about 10' up which make it a little hard for me to catch this swarm.

I called around - not everybody wants to get a swarm that high in a tree. So I finally found someone to come and take them - Tim, a Wake County beekeeper that doesn't live to far from my house.

Tim made it look easy - a big step ladder, clippers and a steady hand, and viola - the bees are in their new home ready to be moved.

This was a really large swarm. I'm sure they came out of the Swarm '09 Hive. This is the hive we took 3 frames with queen cells from just 10 days ago and Mr. Ellis and I made nucs. We also added an empty brood box - I need to check this hive again ASAP.

I didn't want to give this swarm away but in reality, I just don't need another hive - I have 4 hives and a nuc but if I have another swarm, it's gonna stay with me.